building my first Wheel, 32 hole Deep V

So, I now have two Deep V rims, white 700c, with 32 holes. I also have I.R.O. flip flop hubs from sheldon Brown. Also, a Truing stand and spoke wrench. Now I need to buy spokes and get to building. I was going to buy nashbar ones and i need to know what size.

I'd have your LBS calculate spoke length. And while you're there, buy the spokes. They should have any size you'll need, where Nashbar only offers those few. Double butted (in the link) is nice, but straight gauge (14) is cheaper and should be plenty strong for you.

Originally Posted by CardiacKid

I explained that he could never pay me enough cash for the amount of work I had put into that bike and the only way to compensate me for it was to ride the hell out of it.

I'd have your LBS calculate spoke length. And while you're there, buy the spokes. They should have any size you'll need, where Nashbar only offers those few. Double butted (in the link) is nice, but straight gauge (14) is cheaper and should be plenty strong for you.

I don't know if I agree, but double butted spokes are definitely the way to go. Your LBS should not charge more than a $1 p/spoke. I use the spokes calculator on the DT Swiss site. It works pretty well. The web is FULL of spokes calculating help, but the best one I have ever encountered is the one on Bike-a-log, which is only availible to bike shops.

I used straight (non-swaged) spokes on one of my builds as they were the only ones conveniently available at the time; my LBS cut them for me, as nowadays it's not worth stocking dozens of different spoke lengths and have them collect dust and use up space, so they cut them to length as needed. They worked great, but I noticed that occasionally there would be a "pinging" from the rear-wheel, always when in bottom gear, and usually when cranking hard. The dishing was fine, and the derailleur was adjusted correctly and yet I couldn't get rid of this pinging from the RD touching the spokes; I rebuilt the wheel using exactly the same lacing pattern and tension, but with double-butted spokes, and the problem went away (FWIW).

also I have looked a spoke calculator and have no clue how to use it. any tips?

If it's not DT Swiss or Sapim, I don't give a rat's ass. Seriously - double-butted quality spokes are dead cheap and worth the expenditure in reducing the amount of re-truing grief you'll have.

Buy more spokes than you need. You'll need at least one extra, to get the nipples through the deep-section of the rim without dropping them.

Spoke calculator: sit down with a tape-measure. Measure everything twice. Then put the numbers into the calculator. Bosh.

Also: take it easy. For the first couple of times, it's a slow, iterative process. Once you're laced-up, the truing can take a while. Don't let it get you down if it feels like you're not getting anywhere. Just put everything down and come back to it the next day. It's easier to do 3x 20min truing sessions than sit there for an hour, fuming.

Buy more spokes than you need. You'll need at least one extra, to get the nipples through the deep-section of the rim without dropping them.

getting the nipples through the rim can be done more easily with a kebab skewer, but yes, buy a couple extra, you shouldn't ever break one if all is built properly but better safe than sorry, to coin a phrase

I noticed that occasionally there would be a "pinging" from the rear-wheel, always when in bottom gear, and usually when cranking hard. The dishing was fine, and the derailleur was adjusted correctly and yet I couldn't get rid of this pinging from the RD touching the spokes; I rebuilt the wheel using exactly the same lacing pattern and tension, but with double-butted spokes, and the problem went away (FWIW).

- Wil

that pinging is the sound of the spokes de-torquing.
after the wheel has been laced and trued first you have to bend the spokes around each other with a lever (old crank or butter knife works), re-tru, then put the wheel horizontally on the ground and with yr hands on opposite sides of the rim press down, rotate, press down, flip wheel over, repeat and re-tru.

there is no complete data base of hub and rim dimensions, but i have found that damon rinard.com is a fairly comprehensive and accurate source.

that pinging is the sound of the spokes de-torquing.
after the wheel has been laced and trued first you have to bend the spokes around each other with a lever (old crank or butter knife works), re-tru, then put the wheel horizontally on the ground and with yr hands on opposite sides of the rim press down, rotate, press down, flip wheel over, repeat and re-tru.

there is no complete data base of hub and rim dimensions, but i have found that damon rinard.com is a fairly comprehensive and accurate source.

wheel building is rad!
good luck!

I agree with you that often the pinging is exactly what you describe, and I concur with your solution (I find a nipple-driver to be the ideal tool), however in my case the pinging was the spokes hitting the derailleur cage, proven by tweaking the adjustment on the RD. Yes, the Damon Rinard information is very good; I have an Excel spreadsheet file which came from that site, it has lots of rim and hub data, and a great spoke-length calculator; a very useful source indeed!

then put the wheel horizontally on the ground and with yr hands on opposite sides of the rim press down, rotate, press down, flip wheel over, repeat and re-tru.

I think jobst brandt actually says this is bad for the wheel. if the point is stress-relieving, you can easily do that by just squeezing pairs of spokes together in the same plane as the wheel. wheels dont hold up to lateral stress nearly as well as they do to radial

Yup, squeeze pairs of spokes together to stress relieve. When you're putting the last bit of tension on the spoke, overshoot by about an eighth of a turn and back off by the same amount; this will mostly remove any windup in the spoke. If you do this properly you should have little to no pinging on the first ride. Don't forget to press the spoke ends against the hub flange once you've laced up the wheel; this will help the tension to stay constant and seat the spokes better.

Also: take it easy. For the first couple of times, it's a slow, iterative process. Once you're laced-up, the truing can take a while. Don't let it get you down if it feels like you're not getting anywhere. Just put everything down and come back to it the next day. It's easier to do 3x 20min truing sessions than sit there for an hour, fuming.

I've built several sets of wheels, and this has got to be one of the best pieces of advice I've ever read on BF.

my opinion, for what it's worth:
Front: Radial 15/16g w/ brass nipples
Rear: 2X 14/15g w/ brass nipples
If it were my wheelset, thats what I would build. The DeepV's are very very strong rims. Also, I like to use a little grease on the spokes, and then as I tighten up the wheel, a drop of tri-flow at the contact point of the rim/nipple.